Worry Mounts Over Future of ETNA Centre

1.20.17pm GMT Thu 15th Jan 2004

Vincent Cable MP for Twickenham

East Twickenham's community centre, ETNA, which houses some widely used community organisations (SPEAR; a nursery school; the Richmond junior chess club; Richmond Advocacy; Mediation in Divorce) and large numbers of other occasional users (a Bridge club; the residents association; a toddlers group; AA) has an uncertain future as the council is considering selling the property in Rosslyn Road.

Although the council leader has given assurances that the main users will not be made homeless, there is worry about what this commitment will mean in practice and that a centre that serves the East Twickenham community will be lost. Vincent Cable has taken up the issue and appealed to the council to recognise the importance of the Centre to the community and the difficulties faced by local organisations because of uncertainty hanging over the centre.

"Organisations like the nursery and toddlers group will find it very difficult to relocate. The clubs which use the centre for a hew hours a week will have nowhere else to go. It would be tragic if the council lost a very valuable community asset by creating uncertainty over its future and by pushing ahead with property development. People in East Twickenham, and the hundreds of people who use the centre, will be angry if the future of the centre is not guaranteed."